Flavonoids: Old and new aspects of a class of natural therapeutic drugs

Flavonoids are natural products widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom and currently consumed in large amounts in the daily diet. Flavonoids are capable of modulating the activity of enzymes and affect the behaviour of m any cell systems, suggesting that the compounds may possess significant ant ihepatotoxic, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory, antiosteoporotic and even an titumor activities. This review summarizes available data on these benefici al effects of flavonoids.